Shooter & Shifter
by Aerenii
Summary: Because there isn't enough trouble with rival gangs and prohibition agents, evil is making it's way to Atlantic City
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The hubby and I have been 9:00 pm Sunday night HBO people since the Sopranos. Among my favorite shows are _Boardwalk Empire _and _True Blood. _I decided to combine the two. Obviously, totally AU. Rated M for language, violence, sexual situations...all the good stuff. Hope you enjoy. Please review. I always appreciate honest opinions and constructive criticism.**

**(Please bear with me. It'll take a little while for this to all come together.)**

**(Also, major artistic license has been taking with both the Board Empire and True Blood angles.)**

Shooter & Shifter

Chapter 1

"Guard the warehouse," Jimmy had said. So, here Richard was, guarding the warehouse. It was quiet this evening, the air taking on the crisp scent of the approaching autumn. It would turn cold soon, snow would come and coat the city in a seemingly pristine blanket. But like so much in life, it would only be a facade. Richard knew you could sometimes cover the ugly truths and harsh realities, but usually, people could guess what was under the surface, even if they couldn't really see it.

An hour passed, and then another, and the only sounds he heard were the wind moving through the trees, and the occasional branch creaking. Feeling a little hungry, he reached into his bag and pulled out the light meal Angela Darmody had put together for him. She understood that he was still uncomfortable eating in front of people, and so when her husband gave him late night assignments that had him sitting alone for hours in the dark, she made a point to pack something for him. Tonight it was thin slices of roast, and some of her homemade biscuits. Richard loved Angela's biscuits. They were always so fluffy, they were easy for him to chew, and there was something about their flavor that took him back to Sundays in his youth, when his grandma would make lunch after church.

Richard bit off a small piece of biscuit and moved it to the right side of his mouth, chewing carefully. This was something that he doubt would ever get any easier with time. He had the hang of it, yes. He would have starved to death by now if he hadn't. But he was a personally neat man, and knowing that crumbs could and did shower from his mouth at every opportunity didn't sit well with him.

But, such was life in the big city, as him mom used to say when she had to deal with something that she couldn't change.

He wiped the biscuit crumbs away with his handkerchief, then took a small bite of roast. It was a little tough since it was cold, but it was nicely seasoned. Jimmy was lucky to have Angela, Richard thought for what was probably the millionth time.

He ate slowly, but his senses, trained by the army to make him an expert marksman, were completely tuned to his surroundings. A slight noise came from the back of the warehouse. Anyone else might not have noticed it. But Richard, who had once spent three days sitting stock still in a blind waiting for a German sniper to make one small mistake, heard it instantly.

Silently, he stood up from the crate he had been sitting on, took his gun and started towards the back of the warehouse. He heard the noise again; it was a very faint rasping sound. Quietly Richard crept forward, gun held in front of him, straining his hearing for the slightest sound. Right now, he truly wished for both his eyes. He often did, but it was times like this when it would be very beneficial to not have a total blind spot on his left.

He moved through the stacks of crates. Most of them were going to be shipped out tomorrow, Richard was here tonight to make sure no one got any bright ideas, like trying to load the crates and cart them off early. Jimmy said the word was out that Richard was the one on guard tonight, and, according to Jimmy, Richard's reputation as a crack marksman with absolutely no mercy had spread far and wide, so it was highly unlikely that anyone would try anything. But Richard knew that sometimes, bravado and ego tended trump common sense. Richard didn't know if he truly lived up to the stories that were apparently being told about him. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure of what the stories were. He _**did**_ know what he had done, and he could easily admit that he was emotionally detached from life when it came down to him versus 'them'. He had been trained to kill. It had been instilled in him that if he did not get the target, the target would get him, or all that he held dear. There was a part of him that knew this wasn't quite right. That there was an alternative. But that part of him was still a young boy who had never even kissed a girl, who had only seen the world through newspapers and novels, who didn't know what a 'kaiser' was, or what the accuracy of an Enfield sniper rifle was down to a meter. That boy was long ago and far away. Richard had seen too much to be surprised by anything anymore.

He reached the very back of the warehouse. It was dark, and silent. He closed his eye and strained his ears. Nothing. He opened his eye back up and slowly scanned the area, peering as hard as he could into the deepest shadows. If he didn't spot anything, he would need to navigate the narrow alleys between crates. So while he looked, he tried to decide his best course.

Seeing nothing, he moved to his right, intending on searching that row first. He advanced slowly, gun still held before him, his remaining eye moving from side to side as he made his way forward. He made nearly no sound as he moved. Training had kicked in.

There was nothing down the first aisle, nor the second. It was as he made his way back up the third aisle that something happened. He was nearly back to the main aisle when there was a sudden movement at eye level toward his left, barely glipsed through his right eye. He spun as quickly as he could, which was just a fraction slower than it would have been had the movement been to the right. As it was, it was just long enough for him to realize what had just jumped on to the crate for him to not pull the trigger. _Damn fucking missing eye _he mentally cursed. _If that had been one of Van Alden's men, I would be dead right now. _

'Mew?'

A cat sat on top of the crate, staring inquisitively at Richard. He lowered the gun and glowered at the cat. The cat, for it's part, blinked nonchalantly at Richard, picked up it's front paw, licked it, and gave it's ear a quick cleaning.

"Mmm. I. Don't really. Like cats."

The cat lowered it's paw and stared at him as if to say 'Why ever not?'

Richard looked down at the gun in his hand, then back at the cat. He REALLY didn't like them. When he was five his sister's cat, Buttons, decided to claw the everliving daylights out of the left side of his face. There was probably some small bit of irony that the same side of the face the cat took after was the same side of the face that was now missing thanks to that damn German son of a bitch. Of course, Richard REALLY didn't like damn German sons of bitches, either.

Well, he had gotten that damn German son of a bitch, and he was going to get this damn cat, too. He raised his gun and aimed it directly at the cat, who leaned toward the muzzle and sniffed at it, going cross-eyed in the process. Then, as if to prove that it feared Richard in no way, shape or form, the cat rubbed the side of its face against the muzzle, purring loudly all the while.

Dumbfounded, Richard lowered his hand until it was resting on the box and just stared at the cat.

'Mew?'

'Mmm. Mew you," Richard replied. The cat bobbed it's head quickly, like Richard had just uttered the most sage words in cat history. It then lowered its head to sniff the edge of the box. After a quick investigation, the cat rubbed its cheeks and chin against the edge. Richard immediately identified that as the sound that had brought him back here in the first place.

"Mmm. Damn cat," he grumbled and went back to the spot near the front of the warehouse that he'd chosen to spend his vigil. He settled back down, gun in easy reach, and went back to his dinner. He had made himself comfortable, his back was leaning against a slightly taller stack of crates, he had one foot up on the crate next to him. A small snippet of a thought came to him, he had been meaning to ask Jimmy about something but he couldn't remember what that something was. He tried to follow his train of thought around to see if he could remember what it was he was supposed to ask, and he forgot about the fact that he had a small bit of roast in his hand. At least, he forgot about it until he felt something press on his thigh, then something start to pull down on the hand with the roast in it.

He looked down and saw the cat, who was trying its hardest to get Richard's fingers down just a little lower so it could get its teeth around the meat.

"What. mm. Do you think. You're doing, you. Damn cat?"

The cat looked away from the roast and up at Richard. 'Mew?'

Richard wasn't sure if a cat was capable of giving puppy-eyes, but that was pretty much what this cat was doing. Her, (he didn't know why, but he was suddenly convinced it was a female cat) eyes were very wide and pathetic looking, and her ears had a 'woe-is-me' droop to them. Her paw curled a little tighter on Richard's hand as she tried once again to get the meat to her mouth. She gave another little 'mew', and Richard lowered his fingers. She sniffed at the morsel of beef, then gently bit into it. Richard released it, and she settled down on her feet to eat it, making short work of it and looking back at Richard expectantly. Richard gazed back at the cat, sighed, and tore off another bit of meat to toss down to the cat. He offered her a bite of biscuit as well, but she wasn't as taken with them as he was. She did love the roast though.

"All gone, mm." Richard said finally, holding out his empty hands. She sniffed at them, then licked the grease from his fingertips. When she was done cleaning Richard's hands, she wiped her muzzle down with her paw. Once she was done with her ablutions, she hopped up onto the crate next to Richard and curled up against his thigh.

_Obviously the rumors of my deadly reputation haven't reached the feline community, _he thought as the cat closed her eyes and began purring. Anytime Richard moved his leg, the cat would shift so she would remain pressed against him. He thought she was asleep, but he did notice that one ear or the other would often twist at the slightest sound. So when both of her ears swiveled forward, and her eyes opened to stare intently at the front door, Richard also went on alert.

He stood up and held his gun at he ready. The cat hopped down onto the floor and slunk up towards the door, quickly but silently. Richard followed a little more slowly but nearly just as silent. He heard a car driving up, saw the headlights bobbing through the window. The car stopped, the headlights went dark, and the creak of the door opening could be heard. There were two sets of footsteps on the gravel outside. One of them was slightly uneven... must be Jimmy. But what would he be doing here at this hour?

The front door slid open, the loud rumble disturbing the peaceful night.

"Richard?" Jimmy called, silhouetted against the door. "It Jimmy. I've got Eli with me."

Richard gave a grunt of acknowledgment and stepped forward from the shadows. Eli Thompson stepped past Jimmy and into the warehouse. He looked around suspiciously, then cast Richard a quick, dark look.

"Deputy Halloran was patrolling around earlier and said he saw someone sneaking through the woods towards the warehouse," Eli said. "Have you seen anyone, Harrow?" Richard shook his head, and explained to Jimmy and Eli that it had been quiet all evening. Eli looked like he didn't believe Richard.

"If Richard had seen anyone," Jimmy said, "I'm pretty sure they'd be dead right now." Harsh, but true. That was just Richard.

Eli glared at Jimmy, too. Jimmy, who Nucky had been grooming to take his place. That didn't sit well with Eli. It should have been Eli who was learning the ropes from Nucky, not this ungrateful bastard. Eli gave a small snarl and stomped around the warehouse, looking for what, Jimmy and Richard had no idea. Jimmy moved to stand beside Richard and said in a quite voice "Eli thinks we're hiding something from him, like maybe we're going to turn on Nucky or something." Richard shrugged. He didn't really care what was going on inside Eli's head. "Anyway," Jimmy continued. "He's going to finish inspecting the warehouse, then I'll try to get him out of here."

Eli inspected the warehouse, looking for something out of place. He didn't see anything, but he was certain that Darmody and the half-faced killer were hiding something. He could hear Jimmy saying something, probably plotting against Nucky. Or even more likely, planning to kill Eli where he stood. That must be it. Harrow had no qualms about murder...everyone knew that. And Darmody had to see Eli as an obstacle in his path to follow Nucky. It all made sense...knock off Eli, have unlimited access to Nucky, then when the time was right, kill off the older Thompson brother, too, and take over the entire operation.

"Over my dead body," Eli mumbled as he pulled out his revolver and slowly made his way back to where Jimmy and Richard were conspiring against Nucky. He'd show them that you didn't mess with Ethan Thompson's boys and get away with it.

Eli peered around a stack of crates at the two war veterans, who were standing near each other talking softly. He would have to shoot Harrow first. And it would have to be a fatal shot. Eli knew he was no match for Harrow in a shoot-out. So he carefully took aim, setting his sights on a spot just above the ear piece of the glasses that Harrow wore to keep his tin mask in place. Slowly, Eli cocked the gun, made a minute adjustment in his aim, prepared to squeeze the trigger...

There was a growl from behind him. It was loud enough that Jimmy and Richard both quickly looked his way. Eli rapidly spun around and aimed down the dark aisle behind him. The was movement in the darkness, something large coming towards him, growling all the while. In a matter of moments it was far enough into the light to see it was a large tiger, easily 8 feet long, five inch fangs exposed in a snarl.

Eli backed away, slowly at first, then he turned and fled out the door as fast as he could run. The tiger darted after him, paws churning up the gravel and dirt outside as she rounded the corner and attempted to gain on the fleeing sheriff.

Jimmy pulled his gun and made to give chase, but Richard grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Richard, there is a tiger chasing Eli," Jimmy stated, even though he was certain Richard knew this.

"Yes."

"That tiger is probably going to eat Eli if he catches him."

"Mm. Eli was. Planning on shooting us," Richard said. "If the tiger. mm. Doesn't get Eli, one of us. Will have to." That made Jimmy pause. He thought about telling Nucky that he had shot Eli, imagined Nucky's none-too-pleasant reaction to this news, and decided he didn't want to ever have that conversation.

"Was the tiger here the entire night?" Jimmy asked.

"Mm. Don't think so. There is a small. Cat around here. But I. mm. Haven't seen her since. You and Eli mm. Pulled up. mm. I shared dinner with her. She didn't, mm. Like the biscuits much, but she. mm. Enjoyed the roast."

"I didn't know you liked cats, Richard."

"I don't," Harrow replied.

Jimmy didn't know what to say so he kept his mouth shut. There were no sounds from outside besides the wind. He wondered what happened to Eli.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She liked the man with the half face. She was glad he didn't shoot her when he first saw her. That would have been horrible on many levels. Too many questions would have arisen. He had a nice, pleasant smell, and he had been kind enough to share his food with her. It had been hard since her mother died, and she knew she wasn't getting nearly enough to eat. That was why she stayed in a smaller form. Less food required. She had to be careful though. She might get permanently stuck like this.

She had come into the warehouse partially to get out of the wind, partially to look for mice. But since the nice man with the half face had been so generous, she didn't have to hunt right away. She would do that later, hopefully she would get enough that she could share with the man. But for now, to repay the favor, she would curl up by him and help keep him warm.

She was quite content, and slipped into a shallow doze, but being a cat, she could keep aware of the various sounds and scents around her at the same time. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary. But then, a car could be heard. That wasn't unusual, cars came and went all the time. But there was a terrible smell with the car, and that smell always meant bad things.

The man with the half face noticed her attentive attitude and assumed one of his own. They both stood and moved toward the front door. The smell was getting stronger, and she couldn't help but curl her muzzle in disgust. She darted away from the man with the half face, off down an aisle into the deep shadows.

She could see two new men at the door. One, young with blond hair and blue eyes, had a pleasing smell like the man with the half face. But the dark haired one in the brown outfit, he had a stench of evil about him. He was the threat. He would have to be dealt with quickly.

Hidden in darkness, she went through the process of switching her form to something larger, more deadly. Hopefully she could distract the evil thing long enough for the nice man with the half face to get away. By the time she was done with her shifting, the man in brown was aiming his gun at the man with the half face. She growled her displeasure, which made the man in brown spin around. She stalked forward, growling and baring her teeth, intent on taking the man down. He was tainted, and therefore dangerous. She doubted the man with the half face or his blond friend understood the danger. She knew that the human sense of smell was weaker than that of a cat, and even if it hadn't been, it was unlikely they knew what they were dealing with.

When the man in brown turned tail and ran, she gave chase. In tiger form, she could cover ground quickly, the powerful muscles bunching under her skin, propelling her forward in great leaps. The man headed towards the woods, hoping to lose her, she was sure. She didn't know until it was almost to late that he had company waiting there.

A were, in wolf form, waited just inside the tree line. She came to a halt, a low growl emanating from deep in her chest. The wolf regarded her warily. She was larger than he was, and looked more powerful. She wasn't entirely sure that was the case, but she was going to try to use it to her advantage.

The wolf snarled and moved his body between her and the man in brown, who continued to run towards the road. The tigress paced back and forth, her golden eyes never leaving the wolf. If she went around the wolf, he could either attack her from behind, or go after the man with the half face and his friend. She couldn't let that happened. But if she let the man in brown get too far ahead, he might get to his dark master and talk about what happened.

She heard something behind her; two men approaching at a run. The wolf noticed them, too. He probably smelled them, since his sense of smell blew hers out of the water. He looked from her eyes, over her shoulder. The snarl died in his throat, and he decided to chase after the man in brown.

"Holy shit, Richard! Now there's a wolf, too."

The tigress waited until the wolf was out of hearing range before she turned and faced the men. The blond one had his gun trained on her, but the man with the half face was regarding her with a frown of concentration. She let a small 'mew' emerge; although it was much deeper than the sounds she had made in the warehouse, the man with the half face...Richard, she thought to herself...nodded.

"Mmm. Mew you," he replied quietly. The tigress nodded her head. He probably didn't understand the message, but he got it. She met his eye, nodded once more, then bounded of into the woods, after the wolf and the man in brown.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jimmy lit a cigarette and took a few long drags off of it before he looked at Richard.

"Any chance you can explain to me what the hell that was?" he asked.

"Mm, no," Richard replied. "I don't have. A clear idea of it myself. Mm."

"Any theories on why Eli would want to shoot us?"

"Mm, possibly jealousy. You. Are very close to his brother, and I think, mm, he resents it. Also, mm. It's possible he could be plotting. Against Nucky, against us. Mm. There is also, mm. A small chance Nucky is, mm. Trying to get rid of us. Mm. Or maybe he is in league. With some unknown..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Without actually talking to Eli, there's too many possibilities." Jimmy sighed and took another drag off his cigarette, picking a loose bit of tobacco off his lip and flicking it to the ground. This was a troubling situation. It was bad enough if it was just Eli possibly going rouge on them. But the tiger and the wolf thrown in made it that much worse. "We gotta go talk to Nucky," Jimmy said after along silence. "None of this seems right." Richard grunted in agreement.

"Let me see if I understood you correctly," Nucky said, looking at Jimmy and Richard across his desk. "Eli was going to shoot you, but a tiger chased him away. You ran after them both, but instead of finding Eli and the tiger, you found the tiger and a wolf, and no sign of Eli. Then the wolf went away, and the tiger went after it. Yes?" Jimmy and Richard nodded. "Do you have any idea how FUCKING ridiculous that sounds?" Despite the phrasing, it wasn't a question, so Jimmy held his reply. "Why didn't you shoot anything?" Nucky continued. "Especially you!" he waved his hand at Richard. "I thought you were all about killing things."

"Only. If they need it."

"And the tiger chasing my brother didn't need killing?"

"Mm. No."

Nucky rolled his eyes and stood up to begin pacing behind his desk.

"Get me a drink, James. I need one right now." Jimmy stood up and moved to the table where Nucky had a decanter of bourbon and poured three glasses. He put a stir stick in one glass, then carried the three glasses back to the desk, handing one to Nucky, one to Richard, and keeping the third for himself.

"Why would Eli even want to kill you?" Nucky asked as he sipped his bourbon.

"Richard had a couple of theories about that," Jimmy said, shifting in his chair to ease the pain in his leg. He recounted the conversation he and Richard had in the woods, leaving out the one about Nucky trying to get rid of them. It was a possibility, of course, but not one Jimmy wad going to mention at the moment.

"First of all," Nucky said when Jimmy had finished. "Eli and I are very close. He wouldn't turn against me. Second, I doubt he's jealous of our bond, James. He knows that you're like a son to me, but he also knows that I greatly appreciate the work he does for me. I wouldn't be where I am today without his help."

"Be that as it may, Nuck, Eli did have a gun pointed at us."

"I'll have a talk with him," Nucky said. "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened. Why don't you two go home and go to bed. It's been a long night, I'm sure you're both exhausted." Knowing a dismissal when they heard one, Jimmy and Richard left Nucky's office and headed home.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I've always wanted to see Denis O'Hare as Russell Edgington just break out into show tunes whenever he's on screen. And since I just found out that Anthony Laciura, who plays Eddie Kessler, is an opera singer, I really want to put a scene where they have a duet in here somewhere! :'D**

Chapter 4

She followed the wolf's trail as long as she could, but she lost it at the road. She could only assume the wolf and the man in brown had gotten into a car and driven away. She would have to find some way to track them. But first, she felt the urgent need to warn the man with the half face _Richard, _she reminded herself_, _that he was about to face a danger greater than any he had ever known. She stayed in tiger form as long as she dared, then shifted again to the small cat Richard had first met her as. Luckily, cats were notorious gossips, as they went everywhere and heard everything. She met with a tom cat who was able to tell her that he saw the man with the half face and the blond one walking into the big building with the wonderful assortment of delicious garbage. He showed her which one he meant, then went about his business. She sat in front of the building...a hotel, her mother had told her long ago... and regarded it curiously. Too many people had been through the doors to pick up the scent of Richard, and given the size of the building, if he was still in there, he could be anywhere.

Her ear twitched. This was an impasse. She could make her way inside the hotel and search, but she could easily miss him. Or she could wait here and hope that he came out.

She caught the unmistakable stench of the dark one on the wind. Her ears flattened and her hackles rose. She couldn't stop the growl rumbling low in her throat. As a car pulled up in front of the hotel, she ran to hide in a shadow of the building's facade. She watched as the man in brown got out of the car. And with him was the dark one. She cowered deeper into the shadows. If the dark one found her, she would meet the same fate as her mother.

* * *

><p>Eddie Kessler was in the middle of straightening Nucky's closet when he detected an unpleasant aroma. He finished hanging the jacket in his hands and slowly made his way to investigate.<p>

From the doorway, he spied Nucky speaking with Eli and a man he did not know. But from the scent, it was clear the man was a vampire.

"Nucky, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Russell Edgington. Mr. Edgington, my brother, Enoch Thompson."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Nucky said, extending his hand. He noticed the stranger's hand was very cool, but since winter was on it's way, chalked it up to the weather.

"Mr. Thompson," Russell replied. His voice was quite cultured, with an accent that Nucky couldn't quite pinpoint. "Your brother Elias tells me you're the gentleman to talk to about business proposals."

"Yes, indeed," Nucky said, smiling. "Come, let's go to my office and talk. Eddie!"

Eddie jumped, then scurried into the room.

"Yes, Mr. Nucky?"

"Send some dinner up for my guests and I."

"Yes, Mr. Nucky. Anything else?"

"No, that should be all for the night. You're free to retire for the evening."

"Very well, Mr. Nucky." Eddie bowed his way out of the room, called down to the kitchen for dinner, then wheeled it into Nucky's office when it came up. Nucky only waved Eddie away when he offered to lay it out. He bid the three men a stammered good evening, not daring to glance at Russell Edgington, and backed out of the room.

"Is Eddie acting a little squirrelier than usual?" Eli asked. Nucky just shrugged and turned his attention back to Russell.

"Now, Mr. Edgington, what is it you wanted to discuss with me?"

* * *

><p>The cat managed to make her way out onto the narrow ledge outside of the office where the man in brown sat with the dark one and another man. The window she was perched near was closed, and the glass was to thick for even her feline hearing to understand the words. But she was able to see in, and she watched intently as the dark on walked around the desk to the man she didn't know. The dark one leaned down and looked into the eyes of the other man. It puzzled her. The vampire wasn't attacking and draining the other man, which is what dark ones did. But instead, he seemed to be just talking to the man. The dark one seemed to be emphasizing his points carefully. The other man just stared back.<p>

She didn't know what to make of this. She wished there was someone she could talk to, but there was no one who came to mind. Her mother was dead, and she hadn't been in Atlantic City long enough to know if there were other shifters here. She thought that she had run far enough away. But she hadn't. The dark one was here, she was here, and she had a feeling she was the only one who could warn others of this danger. Which brought her back to her dilemma regarding Richard.

She had a feeling he would understand, if she could find some way to explain it to him. She just had to find him. But first, there was a plump pigeon sitting on the ledge, at the far side of the window. It, too, was peering into the room, but she didn't think anything of that. It was just a pigeon, the phrase 'bird brain' existed for a reason, after all. She didn't think the pigeon had noticed her when it flew onto the ledge. That was to her advantage. She slowly shifted herself, her eyes glued to the pigeon, who still stared intently into the window. She felt her muscles tighten for the pounce. She would have to do this quickly and precisely. It was a long way down if she missed her landing...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Eddie tried to listen through the doors, but everything was too muffled. He tiptoed away from the door and went to his rooms. There, he quickly stripped, laying his clothes neatly aside. Once that was done, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to shift his form. It was something he usually only did when he had to, on the night of the full moon. Part of the reason he had come to America was because too many of the wrong people were becoming suspicious of him.

It took him a few minutes to assume the form. He preferred to shift into a mastiff, but that was an unsuitable choice for sneaking around the outside of the hotel, so he went to his second choice, a pigeon. When he had finished assuming his form, he flew out of his opened window and circled around the building to Nucky's office. He landed on the ledge and waddled up to the window. There was a cat on the other side, and Eddie was thankful it hadn't spotted him. The last thing he needed right now was to be eaten.

He watched Russell talk to Nucky, and realized with horror that the vampire was glamoring his boss. Eddie had seen it once before, and there was no mistaking the blank yet enraptured look on Nucky's face. Eddie clacked his beak in frustration. He was too old to take on the vampire alone. But something had to be done. The vampire might just be glamoring Nucky now, but who knew what the future would bring.

Eddie has just made up his mind to return to his room when the cat sprang at him. He threw himself off the ledge while trying to flap his wings. He felt a muscle pull, and suddenly moving his right wing was absolute agony. He managed, barely, to make it to the roof. He didn't land so much as crash to the surface, and sat there for some long minutes catching his breath and trying to slow his heart. He was almost calm enough to try flying again when the cat jumped out of the shadows.

Eddie didn't think, he just shifted back to his human form and stood up. The cat had landed in front of him, and was trying hard to back peddle. She ended up on her back, but by the time she had righted herself, Edie found himself gazing on a naked young woman. He averted his eyes and did his best to cover his own nakedness, aware that he was blushing furiously from top to bottom. She stood up and looked at him warily.

"You saw the dark one?" she asked without preamble.

"Yes, miss. The vampire was in the office of Mr. Nucky, my employer."

"Why?"

"That, I could not tell you," he replied. "Please, miss, show a little modesty." He made a vague waving motion at her. She cocked her head inquisitively at him.

"Show what?"

Eddie finally took a good look at her, and what he saw nearly broke his heart. She was thin as a stick, Eddie wondered when her last decent meal was. She was also bedraggled looking. Eddie wondered when her last bath was. She looked ready to bolt, and at the mention of the vampire, or 'dark one' as she called him, an unconscious tremble shook her body. Physically, she barely looked fifteen, but something in her eyes made her so much older.

"Miss, you are naked," he explained carefully, in case she was a bit touched in the head. "It is not proper for a woman of your age to be without clothes."

"But you're naked, too," she pointed out.

"Yes, but that is beside the point. It also has nothing to do with what we were both doing on the ledge. How did you know the vampire was in there?"

"The man in brown, the one who went into the building with the dark one, he's been tainted. I could smell it on him earlier, at the warehouse."

"What warehouse?"

"There were a lot of boxes. And the man with the half face was there..."

"You! You are the tiger Mr. Jimmy and Mr. Richard said they saw." She nodded. "Did Mr. Eli really have a gun pointed at them? The man in brown," he added at her confused look.

"He did. Why did he want to kill them?"

"I do not know. But I am thinking it has something to do with this vampire he has brought to Mr. Nucky."

"You need to avoid him."

"Mr. Nucky?"

"No, the dark one. He...he has a history of torturing and draining shifters." She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. The fingers of her hand brushed against the raised scar. "He thinks...if he can get the right mixture of shifter and vampire blood, he thinks he may be able to walk in the sun again." Her body continued to tremble. "He started...breeding us...marking us depending on our...our bloodlines...Mother and I managed to escape. But he...caught up to us...and...we were at a zoo...we smelled him coming...Mother told me to hide...she all but shoved me into the nearest animal pen...That's when I imprinted with a tiger...I took that form, and watched in...in horror, as he caught her and drained her right there. I don't know how he didn't find me...maybe because all the other animals nearby stank of fear, it confused him. I've been running ever since..."

"You said he marked you..." Eddie said slowly. "How...how do you mean?"

She turned and showed him her right shoulder, where there was a raised scar, from a brand. Eddie examined it closely. It consisted of three vertical lines that were intersected by a fourth line that jutted up abruptly, making it look somewhat like a backwards 'L'

"Oh my," Eddie gasped.

She turned back around to face him. "Something has to be done about that...vampire.." she said the word like it was the first time she'd uttered it.

"Agreed," Eddie replied. "But what?"

"The man with the half face...Richard...can he help us?"

Eddie nodded. "Yes. We will go talk to Mr. Jimmy and Mr. Richard. They should be told. I think they can help. Come. We will have to go to my room so I can get my clothes. Where are yours?"

That was a very good question, she realized. "I... haven't spent a lot of time in human form," she admitted. "Easier to hide as a cat."

"You know that staying shifted for too long can cause you to lose yourself?" Eddie said, concern thick in his voice. She nodded but said nothing. It had occurred to her lately that life as a cat was easier, life as a human was hard and grief filled.

Eddie didn't know what to say in response to that. "Well, miss...ah, what is your name?"

"Jenny," she replied softly.

"Well Miss Jenny. I am Eddie Kessler. Now, let us be on our way. We must talk to Mr. Jimmy and Mr. Richard."


End file.
